BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 32 – The Mining Mission
"A new space? Are you kidding me.. why?!"
Is this wretched System trying to force me again? Damn it...
{ Ding.. Ding.. Ding }
{ Do you wish to exit the Secret Mission? }
{ Upon exiting, the mission will automatically disappear. }
{ Exit - Stay }
What’s going on? It didn’t tell me before that exiting was an option?
I’ll never trust it.. though... it does seem logical.
Mission progress depends on opening a new space. Conversely, if I don’t meet the requirements, would I be trapped here forever? That wouldn’t make sense, because it’s not like I failed a test—like the one with those pillars—it’s just a matter of not meeting some prerequisites.
But? Do I not meet the requirements?
Let’s see...
{ Requirements to Open the New Space }
{ Obtain an Ancient Weapon } (Checked)
{ Funds: +3 Million } (Checked)
{ Accumulation: +40,000 } (Checked)
{ Population: +130 } (Pending)
Three out of four requirements.. I already have. But the population count is still lacking. The number isn’t huge, but is summoning them here, in this cave, a good idea??
Damn.. after all this effort, do I withdraw? And let the mission vanish?
Fine, there’s no other way. If I want to continue, there’s only one solution.
{ Summon }
{ Families }
{ Summon +20 Families }
{ Summoning Complete }
A cloud of dust filled the air again, and then they began to appear.. large numbers of the People of the Forgotten Moon. Youth, children, and the elderly.
I can see what looks like over 60 people.. there are so many.. why did I summon families?? What an idiot I am.. well, no time for that now.
I stood with dignity, placing my hands behind my back as I said:
"Welcome to my city..."
As soon as I spoke, everyone turned toward me, and the noise suddenly died down, except for a few children. Everyone dropped to their knees at once, and a collective voice echoed:
"At your command, My Lord."
From among the crowd, an old man raised his head. His hair was entirely white, and he seemed to be in pain just from kneeling. Then he spoke:
"Distinguished Lord.. do you allow me to speak?"
"Please do.. but before that, you may all stand."
Everyone looked shocked, then they stood. Their features looked fearful, tense, and exhausted.
I had summoned many before, but never with a composition like this. It seems summoning families is the choice for city stability and vitality, not for rapid development.
There are many elderly, children, and women. Very few men, and even they seem incapable of hard labor. Some have chronic injuries as well.
The old man stepped forward, trying to kneel again.
"Don’t. Speak while standing."
The old man smiled, then bowed his head. "My Lord, thank you for receiving outcasts and vagrants like us."
Outcasts and vagrants? My eyes narrowed. I began to understand what was happening. Summoning families seemed cheap compared to other summons, but now the reason was clear.
It seems 20 families will be a burden on the city. In previous summons, everyone worked and produced, earning their own money in return. Now, that won’t be possible.
Hahaha.. for some reason, I imagined Monali and Lois killing me for committing this stupidity.
But.. for some reason, I’m happy. 20 families I will be able to support.. it’s truly a wonderful thing. I’m happy. Honestly, I can’t wait to return to the city and summon more families.
I looked into the old man’s eyes and said:
"No need for thanks.. welcome. The city is above this cave, but for a reason you’ll learn later, summoning you there wasn’t possible. I have a request for you now."
Everyone watched my words intently, while the old man said:
"At your service, Excellency." He bowed his head, and everyone followed suit.
"I have a task to finish. I will provide food and water for you here until my return. But, I have one warning."
No one answered; they were ready to hear the warning.
"Those pillars.. it is strictly forbidden to go near them. There are deadly birds that will kill anyone who approaches. If any of you are stupid enough to go there, they will tear you apart. And if any of you decide, despite the warnings, to go..."
My gaze suddenly shifted to something deeper. I don’t know how to describe it, but I took a breath and said in a gruff voice:
"Then I will not welcome any of you in my city. All of you will be held responsible for anyone who dares to approach the pillars. Do you understand?"
"Your command, My Lord!"
everyone shouted and knelt immediately.
Why did I give them that warning? Well, I can’t stop curiosity with just individual threats. If one person’s action means harm to the others, the whole group will be forced to stand against anyone who breaks that warning.
After a while, I built several prefabricated houses, then provided enough food and water for a while.
After everything was finished, it was time.
{ Open New Space }
{ Space Opened }
One step, then another, until I crossed the path directly. There was no longer a barrier.
In front of the massive white door, I stood for a moment before it began to open with a very loud creak, as if the mountain was being breached by a drill.
After a few seconds, what lay before me was so surprising that my mouth literally fell open.
Silver, blue, and red colors began to glow in a balanced and beautiful mix. Square pieces, rectangles, circles, parallelograms.. every shape you could think of.
Inside the palace, it wasn’t a hall, a corridor, or stairs. It was a mine filled with stones of different colors!
{ Prophet Property: Active }
{ Silver Mountain Stone = 600 Accumulation Points }
{ Blue Mountain Stone = 600 Accumulation Points }
{ Red Mountain Stone = 600 Accumulation Points }
{ Ding.. Ding.. Ding }
{ Mine 1,000 stones }
{ Time Limit: 60 minutes }
{ Failure to achieve result = Mission Failure }
A mining mission then. Failure only means the end of the mission; no threat to my life like before. Why is that?
Well, no time for talk. Every minute is important.
{ Store }
{ Bestowed High-Quality Mining Drill }
{ Purchase }
Fine, we must use the best tools, my friend. Even the bestowed high-quality drill is consumable and can break, but there’s no sign of when that might happen, unlike the axes. Probably because it’s different with stones; stones vary in durability, unlike trees. Yes, trees are different too, but obviously not like stones.
Anyway, after finishing my "venting" to you all, it’s time to work. Hahaha, it’s been a while since I actually worked.
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
There’s no mark. Should I increase the power? No, I must conserve effort.
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
{ +1 }
There we go. So how much time did that take? Damn, I didn’t count. Well, let’s continue.
A strike from above.. a strike from the side.. a strike from the other side.. then rapid consecutive strikes, hahaha!
{ +2 }
Hahaha, compared to the previous mission, I’m in heaven.
{ Time Remaining: 40 minutes }
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
{ +400 }
{ Time Remaining: 30 minutes }
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
{ +600 } 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
{ Stamina +1 }
Hahaha, well there it is. As I expected. The first test yielded Speed; the second test yields Stamina.
But it seems I got the Stamina a bit late. I reached 600 and only now got +1. That doesn’t look good.
{ Time Remaining: 20 minutes }
{ +800 }
{ Stamina +2 }
So far, it doesn’t seem difficult. My hands are starting to ache, but I rest every few minutes. Is the mission too easy or is it this High-Quality Drill that’s making it so? Fine, I’ll try something else.
{ Store }
{ Simple Mining Drill }
{ Purchase }
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
It’s solid. Heavy. So far, I’ve hit the stone more than triple my strikes with the high-quality drill, yet there’s no harvest.
Fine, let’s continue.
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
{ +801 }
After half a minute of continuous hitting? Are you kidding me?! If I only had this drill, I wouldn’t have succeeded at all!
This mission.. it’s designed for me to lose if I didn’t have the high-quality drill in my hands. I thought it was an easy mission, but I didn’t know the secret.
Damn.. once again, my preparations and previous harvests are saving me. The Exponential Wallet, Jo’s development, and now this drill which I didn’t think for a moment would be this important.
Damn.. I feel frustrated.
{ Time Remaining: 10 minutes }
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
{ +1,000 }
{ Ding.. Ding.. Ding }
{ Goal Achieved }
Alright.. this mission ended well.. what should I face next?
Actually, the question is..
How many missions are left?
Calling this a "Training Mission" makes me anxious.. training missions are always long, grueling, and test every single trait of a character.
The stones are still here in abundance. Will they remain even after the mission ends? Another thing.. can I still gain Stamina now that the mission time is over?
Well, let’s find out..
{ After 2 hours }
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
Fine.. half an hour has already passed.. and I haven’t gained a single new Stamina point. In the last two hours, all I’ve gotten is +2.
The more points I gain, the harder it becomes to get the next one.. very predictable. Fine, I won’t stop until I get one more point.
Doong ... Doong ... Doong ...
{ After 1 hour }
{ +1 }
Finally!!! I feel like my arms are about to fall off... dammit!
Alright, I think the next point would require more than 3 hours.. I don’t have time for that. I’ve already spent way too much time on this mission.
After a few minutes of walking, I reached the massive white door again. I won’t deny that the whole way back, I was terrified of an invisible wall asking for another "New Space."
Hahaha, what if it did? Would I fill the cave with people or what? Hahaha.
As I approached the door..
once again.. it began to open on its own with a loud, annoying creak.
"This thing needs some oil, hahaha!"
I muttered to myself and stepped inside.
Oh.. completely unexpected.
Right before my eyes, at a height of at least 50 meters.. was a giant opening looking out at the sky.
The new hall.. wasn’t a hall, nor was it a cave filled with stones. It was more like a massive circular pit filled with nests.
More than 300 Toothed Birds.. they weren’t hidden; they were perched silently atop the nests.
The size of each bird was nearly as large as those giant mountain eagles. Their wings were blue with other subtle colors. At the tips of their wings.. sharp white needles.
Those cursed needles were what made me suffer in the beginning.
{ Ding.. Ding.. Ding }
{ Complete the Secret Mission — Training Beneath Ancient Ruins — by reaching the surface through the opening above. }
So, it’s the final test then..
